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Re: Taliban Prisoner Swap Frees U.S. Soldier Held Nearly 5 Years

This whole deal is not at all surprising to me. Obama, in a single move, facilitated the release of 6 Muslims. Tell me again he's not a Muslim, working almost completely for the enemy of this country. Obama will continually show his true colors as he is more emboldened by time and hubrous.

Re: Taliban Prisoner Swap Frees U.S. Soldier Held Nearly 5 Years

Impeach-Obama movement surges on Bergdahl deal

'This is aiding and abetting the enemy'

byBob UnruhEmail | Archive Bob Unruh joined WND in 2006 after nearly three decades with the Associated Press, as well as several Upper Midwest newspapers, where he covered everything from legislative battles and sports to tornadoes and homicidal survivalists. He is also a photographer whose scenic work has been used commercially. The charge that President Obama has committed “high crimes and misdemeanors” and should be impeached because of the deal he arranged to set free five top Taliban leaders in exchange for an American soldier whose behavior is under investigation is gaining traction.
Lots of traction.
Including a request from a former member of Congress, Allen West, to current House Speaker John Boehner and others “to draft articles of impeachment as no one is above the law in America.”
“I call upon the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives; Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to draft articles of impeachment,” West wrote Tuesday.
West argues Obama signed into law only months ago the National Defense Authorization Act, which makes it a crime against the nation to offer or provide any material support to terror groups.
The problem was explained by Fox News judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano, who supported West’s opinion.
“We have a federal statute which makes it a felony to provide material assistance to any terrorist organization. It could be money, maps, professional services, any asset whatsoever, include human assets,” he said.
Napolitano argues it is likely the five terrorist leaders will rejoin the campaign against the United States, which constitutes material support.Just a day ago, Andrew McCarthy, the former federal prosecutor who brought the evidence that convicted perpetrators of the first Islamic terror bombing of New York’s World Trade Center, said Obama likely broke the federal law against supporting terror.The definitive case for removing Barack Obama from office is presented in “Impeachable Offenses” by Aaron Klein and Brenda J. Elliott.
Transferring the five terrorists to Qatar in exchange for the release of Bergdahl “violates the law against material support to terrorism,” Andrew McCarthy told the the Daily Mail of London.
McCarthy was assistant U.S. attorney in New York. He led the 1995 prosecution of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman and nearly a dozen others charged with the bombing, which failed to bring down the towers but killed six and injured more than a thousand.West wrote Tuesday that Obama used an Article 2 signing statement to deem unconstitutional a measure he had signed into law contained in the National Defense Authorization Act.
“The law stated that he must advise Congress within 30 days about any plans to transfer detainees from Gitmo,” West wrote. “Obama basically stated that this was ‘unconstitutional’ and that his unilateral action fell within his purview. Once again Obama used selective discretion as to what law he feels he must adhere to — in this case it has severe ramifications for our national security.”
He said the five Guantanamo Bay detainees “were senior Taliban officials, basically members of Mullah Omar’s inner circle.”
“This is aiding and abetting the enemy, which goes along with the collusion of this administration with Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated organizations and supplying weapons and arms to Islamists,” West wrote. “Obama just released the leadership of a terrorist organization, and what did we get in return? A deserter, who by his own self-proclamation harbors anti-American sentiments – which it seems that Susan Rice, our esteemed national security adviser, didn’t even realize his heinous actions – or maybe as usual she just lied about it again.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I submit that Barack Hussein Obama’s unilateral negotiations with terrorists and the ensuing release of their key leadership without consult – mandated by law – with the U.S. Congress represents high crimes and misdemeanors, an impeachable offense.”

Napolitano said it’s clear Obama did “the very thing that government is prohibited from doing under federal law.”
The action, Napolitano said, “defies” Obama’s oath of office, which is to “faithfully” enforce federal law.
“He may very have committed a federal crime by giving material assistance to a terror organization,” he said.
Impeachment, he said, is “a very, very valid argument.”Roll Call reported the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee also joined the conversation.
“My perception is he broke the law by not informing Congress 30 days before,” Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., said in an appearance on MSNBC.
McKeon was referring to a 2013 law that requires the administration to notify Congress before detainees from the detention camp are released.
“We will be holding hearings. I’m sorry that this is being portrayed as a Republican issue. Democrats also voted for this law. It was important for our national security,” he said.
McKeon noted the law passed overwhelmingly in both chambers of Congress and the president signed it.
“And although he said now he had a disclaimer along with it that he apparently didn’t support the law, he did sign it,” the congressman said.WND’s report Monday explained that McCarthy differed slightly. He said Obama’s actions in releasing the five terrorists were not impeachable based on not notifying Congress, because he said that law itself was flawed.
But the law, he said, specifically forbids any “material support to terrorism.” And he said the president actions likely violated that provision.
“And because high crimes and misdemeanors (the offenses cited in the Constitution as reason for impeachment) are not statutory offenses but political wrongs that endanger the United States, the return of senior terrorists to the Taliban while we still have soldiers in harm’s way is, in my view, a ‘high crime and misdemeanor,’” McCarthy told the Mail.
A book also has made a case for impeaching Obama. “Impeachable Offenses,” by Aaron Klein and Brenda J. Elliott, has been called a blueprint for impeaching Obama, outlining the high crimes, misdemeanors, bribery and other offenses committed against the U.S. Constitution.The Daily Mail itself called “Impeachable Offenses” “explosive,” saying the book contains a “systematic connect-the-dots exercise that the president’s defenders will find troublesome.”
Among the offenses enumerated in the book before the Bergdahl deal erupted:

Obamacare not only is unconstitutional but illegally bypasses Congress, infringes on states’ rights and marking an unprecedented and unauthorized expansion of IRS power.

The Obama administration recklessly endangered the public by releasing from prison criminal illegal aliens at a rate far beyond what is publicly known.

The president’s personal role in the Sept. 11, 2012, Benghazi attack, with new evidence regarding what was transpiring at the U.S. mission prior to the assault – arguably impeachable activities in and of themselves.

Illicit edicts on gun control in addition to the deadly “Fast and Furious” gun-running operation intended, the book shows, to collect fraudulent gun data.

Re: Taliban Prisoner Swap Frees U.S. Soldier Held Nearly 5 Years

A celebration in Bowe Bergdahl's hometown of Hailey, Idaho, planned for later this month has been cancelled in the wake of a firestorm of controversy over how the Army sergeant wound up as a Taliban captive.

The event on June 28 was already planned as the second annual "Bring Back Bowe" rally even before the news broke on Saturday that Bergdahl had been released in a prisoner swap for five Taliban commanders. The event was changed to a "Welcome Home, Bowe" rally — Bergdahl wasn't expected to attend since he will likely still be recovering.

A release from the City of Hailey on Wednesday said the "community members who worked during March and April of this year to organize their annual Bring Bowe Back event in Hailey have asked to cancel the event."

Town officials on Tuesday told NBC News that they had been deluged with hateful calls from people who don't think Bergdahl should be celebrated as a hero.

In the Wednesday statement, the town said they had received about "100 correspondences" per day on the issue, both positive and negative.

Hailey officials say they aren't cancelling because of any threat, but because of the numbers of people that might have turned up.

"The organizers and Hailey expect a significant increase in attendance to this event, by people who both want to support or protest against it," they said. "In the interest of public safety, the event will be cancelled. Hailey, a town of 8,000, does not have the infrastructure to support an event of the size this could become."

Lee Ann Ferris, a next-door neighbor of the Bergdahls, said she wasn't surprised by the cancellation, but noted the community still supports the family and wants to hear Bowe’s story when he’s ready.

"He deserves his say, there’s a lot to come out on his side — we can’t judge him and lynch him in one day,” Ferris told NBC News. "It’s been very shocking, I think, how vicious the attacks have been. We knew there would be a little bit but I was shocked at just how much.

"They’re really good people," she said of the Bergdahls. "They have good hearts, Bowe has a good heart, and something’s going to come out to exonerate him I believe."

Re: Taliban Prisoner Swap Frees U.S. Soldier Held Nearly 5 Years

The president and Ms. Rice seem to think that the crime of desertion in wartime is kind of like skipping class.

June 3, 2014
By Col. Ralph Peters

Congratulations, Mr. President! And identical congrats to your sorcerer’s apprentice, National Security Adviser Susan Rice. By trying to sell him as an American hero, you’ve turned a deserter already despised by soldiers in the know into quite possibly the most-hated individual soldier in the history of our military.

I have never witnessed such outrage from our troops.

Exhibit A: Ms. Rice. In one of the most tone-deaf statements in White House history (we’re making a lot of history here), the national-security advisor, on a Sunday talk show, described Bergdahl as having served “with honor and distinction.” Those serving in uniform and those of us who served previously were already stirred up, but that jaw-dropper drove us into jihad mode.

But pity Ms. Rice. Like the president she serves, she’s a victim of her class. Nobody in the inner circle of Team Obama has served in uniform. It shows. That bit about serving with “honor and distinction” is the sort of perfunctory catch-phrase politicians briefly don as electoral armor. (“At this point in your speech, ma’am, devote one sentence to how much you honor the troops.”)

I actually believe that Ms. Rice was kind of sincere, in her spectacularly oblivious way. In the best Manchurian Candidate manner, she said what she had been programmed to say by her political culture, then she was blindsided by the firestorm she ignited by scratching two flinty words together. At least she didn’t blame Bergdahl’s desertion on a video.

The president, too, appears stunned. He has so little understanding of (or interest in) the values and traditions of our troops that he and his advisers really believed that those in uniform would erupt into public joy at the news of Bergdahl’s release — as D.C. frat kids did when Osama bin Laden’s death was trumpeted.

Both President Obama and Ms. Rice seem to think that the crime of desertion in wartime is kind of like skipping class. They have no idea of how great a sin desertion in the face of the enemy is to those in our military. The only worse sin is to side actively with the enemy and kill your brothers in arms. This is not sleeping in on Monday morning and ducking Gender Studies 101.

But compassion, please! The president and all the president’s men and women are not alone. Our media elite — where it’s a rare bird who bothered to serve in uniform — instantly became experts on military justice. Of earnest mien and blithe assumption, one talking head after another announced that “we always try to rescue our troops, even deserters.”

Uh, no. “Save the deserter” is a recent battle cry of the politically indoctrinated brass. For much of our history, we did make some efforts to track down deserters in wartime. Then we shot or hanged them. Or, if we were in good spirits, we merely used a branding iron to burn a large D into their cheeks or foreheads. Even as we grew more enlightened, desertion brought serious time in a military prison. At hard labor.

This is a fundamental culture clash. Team Obama and its base cannot comprehend the values still cherished by those young Americans “so dumb” they joined the Army instead of going to prep school and then to Harvard. Values such as duty, honor, country, physical courage, and loyalty to your brothers and sisters in arms have no place in Obama World. (Military people don’t necessarily all like each other, but they know they can depend on each other in battle — the sacred trust Bergdahl violated.)

President Obama did this to himself (and to Bergdahl). This beautifully educated man, who never tires of letting us know how much smarter he is than the rest of us, never stopped to consider that our troops and their families might have been offended by their commander-in-chief staging a love-fest at the White House to celebrate trading five top terrorists for one deserter and featuring not the families of those soldiers (at least six of them) who died in the efforts to find and free Bergdahl, but, instead, giving a starring role on the international stage to Pa Taliban, parent of a deserter and a creature of dubious sympathies (that beard on pops ain’t a tribute to ZZ Top). How do you say “outrageous insult to our vets” in Pashto?

Nor, during the recent VA scandal, had the president troubled himself to host the families of survivors of those vets who died awaiting care. No, the warmest attention our president has ever paid to a “military family” was to Mr. and Mrs. Bergdahl.

(I will refrain from criticism of the bumptious attempts to cool the flames of this political conflagration by Secretary Hagel: I never pick on the weak.)

What is to be done? Behind the outrage triggered by Team Obama’s combination of cynicism and obliviousness (Bergdahl was so ill we had to set those terrorists free immediately, without notifying Congress, but now he’s chugging power shakes in a military hospital . . . and all this just happened to come at the peak of the VA scandal . . . ), military members don’t really want to lynch Bergdahl. But they want justice.

Our military leaders need to rediscover their moral courage and honor our traditions, our regulations, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. We need a fresh, unprejudiced 15-6 investigation (the military equivalent of a grand jury). We already know, as the military has known since the first 24 hours after Bergdahl abandoned his post, that sufficient evidence exists for a court-martial, but it’s important to do this by the numbers.

It’s hard to believe that the resulting court-martial would not find Bergdahl guilty of desertion (although there will be heavy White House pressure to reduce the charge to Absent Without Leave, or AWOL, status, a lesser offense). If he is convicted, I for one do not want him to go to prison. I’m sure he’s paid and paid for betraying his comrades, quite possibly suffering brutal sexual violence. But if he is found guilty, he needs to be formally reduced to the rank of private, stripped of all privileges and entitlements (the taxpayer should not pay for a deserter’s lifelong health care — Bergdahl’s book and film deals can cover that), and he should be given the appropriate prison sentence, which would then be commuted by the president. Thereafter, let Mr. Bergdahl go home and live with himself.

As for President Obama, how about just one word of thanks to the families of those fallen soldiers you sent out to find Bowe Bergdahl?

Re: Taliban Prisoner Swap Frees U.S. Soldier Held Nearly 5 Years

In an appearance on Fox & Friends on Wednesday, retired Army Spc. Josh Fuller, a soldier who served with Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl since 2008, said that the military informed him and other soldiers that the “narrative” they should maintain is that Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban rather than that he intentionally left his base. When asked if he believed he was told not to “tell the truth” about Bergdahl by military authorities, Fuller said that he did.

“The sentiment that everybody knew was that he walked off the base in the middle of the night, left all his gear there, and went – just walked off the post,” Fuller said. “So, we had all known that it was — that he had deserted his post, and there was never anything about him getting captured or POW until a little while later whenever it came down from the chain of command that we needed to keep quiet and not say anything.”

“We’re going with the narrative that he was captured,” Fuller said of the military’s position on Bergdahl’s alleged desertion.

“So, they basically told you not to tell the truth,” Fox host Brian Kilmeade said.

“Yes, sir,” Fuller replied.

Fuller concluded by corroborating the claims of Bergdahl’s former team leader, Sgt. Evan Buetow, who told CNN on Tuesday that the Taliban’s attacks became more directed after Bergdahl was captured.

“The ambushes we use, the certain tactics we use, the Taliban was picking up on those things,” Fuller said. “You could tell it was from somebody on the inside that had that info.”

A few weeks after his so-called “capture” in late June 2009, three conflicting accounts had surfaced: U.S. officials told the Associated Press Bergdahl had “walked off” the base with three Afghans; the Taliban claimed on its website that “a drunken American soldier had come out of his garrison” and into their arms; and Bergdahl claimed in his Taliban “hostage video” that he had “lagged behind a patrol” before being captured.

I asked on my blog: Were the AP’s sources mistaken? Or is the disturbing first account the right one? What about the “three Afghans” who Pfc. Bergdahl reportedly “just walked off” with after his shift? Who are they? What’s going on?

Five years ago, one of the brave soldiers who risked his life to search for Bergdahl answered my questions and I published his statement on July 20, 2009:

“I know the story and the accounts that he was drunk or that he was lagging behind on patrol are not true– this soldier planned this move for a long time. He walked off the post with a day’s supply of water and had written down before that he wanted to live in the mountains…he is an embarrassment to everyone who has worn the uniform.”

After news broke this weekend of President Obama’s trade of 5 high-level Taliban commanders at Gitmo for Bergdahl’s “freedom,” I heard from another soldier who served on the search team.

“Many of my brothers died because of PFC Bergdahl’s actions, and this has been a very hard day for all Geronimos,” he told me after documenting his proof of service. Other journalists ignored his attempts to get the truth out.

My source still holds a highly sensitive position, so you won’t see him all over the cable news shows. But he wants all of you to know the hell he and his comrades have been reliving:

“I was assigned to 1st Platoon of Blackfoot Company,” based out of Forward Operating Base (FOB) Salerno in Khost, Afghanistan, he said. “Bowe’s platoon was assigned to conduct security and stability operations out of FOB Sharana and other locations in Paktika. The untold background that led to Bowe’s situation involves an article and pictures published by Guardian reporter Sean Smith.” One of the battalion leaders punished soldiers, including Bergdahl (who had been photographed snoozing in his armored vehicle), with extra guard duty assignments for conducting operations in an unprofessional manner at Outpost MEST (OP MEST).

“PFC Bergdahl was already disenchanted with the war effort,” my source said, “and I think the extra duty was the last straw for him.” On the morning of June 30, 2009, “PFC Bergdahl completed a guard shift, removed his equipment, weapon and sensitive items, and left OP MEST with several Afghan security forces personnel. He took a compass, a couple bottles of water and two knives and his journal. His exact intentions may never be known, but he willingly walked off OP MEST and was secured by enemy forces not long after.”

My source, who had been up the previous night on a separate raid, was “shaken awake” on the afternoon Bergdahl disappeared. “We were told there was a DUSTWUN (Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown), and to pack for a 3 hour assault. We received a brief that PFC Bergdahl was missing, and we were going to get him…Sometime after dark we boarded CH-47′s to assault an objective thought to contain PFC Bergdahl. We never made it to the landing zone as the helicopters took very heavy fire on approach to the objective and had to divert.”

The soldier’s Focused Targeting Force (FTF) platoon was not told that it was being diverted to OP MEST. When they landed, he said, “We thought we were in enemy territory, so I recall my friends and I screaming ‘Vehicles’ and preparing to engage with the LAW and SMAW-D rockets we carried. We soon realized the lights were from RG-31 and Maxpro MRAPs, friendly vehicles, and de-escalated the situation. The CH-47′s had dropped us off at OP MEST and did not relay that information.”

With that near-disaster over, the soldier recounted: “We averaged 18-22 kilometers a day on foot, clearing house to house, room to room looking for PFC Bergdahl…We even went as far as rappelling down wells and crawling through tunnels to look for him.” The standard procedure for re-capturing PFC Bergdahl was not “normal,” the soldier noted. “He was very good with knives, and trained to throw and fight hand-to-hand with knives. We did not know the mental state of PFC Bergdahl at the time. All we knew was he left on his own, he caused us lots of hardship, and if we entered a room and saw him we would put him down because he could attack us.”

On the morning of July 4th, 2009, the soldier recalled, “we assaulted several objectives looking for PFC Bergdahl…We executed the mission without incident, and were waiting to be exfiltrated. Our aircraft were in sight when they turned and flew in the opposite direction. At the time we did not know why, but we were stranded. The enemy took advantage of PFC Bergdahl’s capture and attacked numerous outposts that morning.”

“Combat Outpost Zerok was almost overrun, multiple soldiers were wounded and PFCs Justin Casillas and Aaron Fairbairn lost their lives fighting that day,” the soldier told me. (I wrote about their deaths in my July 8, 2009 column, not knowing they were related to the Bergdahl mess.) My source continued: “We learned later that our exfiltration aircraft were diverted to support COP Zerok, and that the situation there was so dire that at one point there were two Apache gunships on station that went winchester, meaning they expended all ordinance and ammunition, but they would not abandon the soldiers still fighting so they resorted to low level unarmed passes to distract the enemy. PFC Bergdahl’s actions undoubtedly caused these events. We spent the remainder of Independence Day walking in the desert…waiting for aircraft that did not come for many, many hours.”

He added that PFCs Casillas and Fairbairn were part of his “sister battalion, 3rd Battalion 509th Infantry (Airborne). That is an Independence Day I will never forget for sure. It is certain that enemy forces took full advantage of our vulnerabilities caused by DUSTWUN recovery operations. Combat Outpost Zerok was just one of several small outposts attacked that day while 4-25(A) was spread very thin searching for PFC Bergdahl. There is no doubt his actions led to these coordinated attacks, and without his desertion PFCs Casillas and Fairbairn would not have given their lives that day.”

The soldier continued: “A few days later we (FTF) conducted a daylight raid on some tents looking for PFC Bergdahl. We took heavy small arms and RPG fire on approach and ran off the CH-47s in contact. Our entire element engaged the enemy, who turned out to be a Taliban shadow governor and his bodyguards…Multiple people died that day…All of this happened because PFC Bergdahl got tired of playing soldier. The remainder of that deployment was focused on recovery efforts. Countless members of the brigade were wounded and we lost good friends, among them PFC Matthew Martinek and 2LT Darryn Andrews. I have no doubt these great men would be alive if PFC Bergdahl did not leave.”

My source did not mince words: “The fact that our government negotiated with terrorists and our enemy is incomprehensible. The fact that they exchanged five war criminals for a traitor is sickening. The worst part for those of us that suffered through that time is that PFC Bergdahl is being hailed as some kind of hero. He was automatically promoted to Specialist and Sergeant, ranks he does not deserve and did not earn. I have no doubt he will receive back pay for these past five years, a substantial sum. There will be book deals, and his family are celebrities. I am glad he is safe, and happy for his family, but he should return home to face a court martial.”

Are you listening, Capitol Hill and America? The Bowe Bergdahl mess isn’t just a story about one deserter, but two. There’s the muddle-headed lowlife who left his post and brothers behind. And there’s the corrupt commander-in-chief who has jeopardized more American soldiers’ lives to “rescue” Bergdahl by bowing to the Taliban, while snubbing the surviving heroes and at least 8 dead American soldiers who lost their lives because of him.

Re: Taliban Prisoner Swap Frees U.S. Soldier Held Nearly 5 Years

This morning on WMALs “Morning on the Mall” radio show with hosts Brian and Larry I was asked a simple question relating to the Taliban prisoner release and impeachment of the president. I responded yes that in this current case, the U.S. House of Representatives should file articles of impeachment against Barack Hussein Obama.

Now before all the detractors go apoplectic here, let me tell you about Article 2 signing statements, their intent, purpose, history, and usage, and the implications for the president’s impeachment.

President Obama used an Article 2 signing statement to deem unconstitutional a measure HE had signed into law contained in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The law stated that he must advise Congress within 30 days about any plans to transfer detainees from GITMO. Obama basically stated that this was “unconstitutional” and that his unilateral action fell within his purview. Once again Obama used selective discretion as to what law he feels he must adhere to — in this case it has severe ramifications for our national security.

Why would the United States acquiesce to the demands of a non-state, non-uniform terrorist organization — the Taliban? The Taliban is our enemy and it is not a nation-state with whom we should enter into negotiations. There are some 141 detainees at GITMO. The five released were senior Taliban officials, basically members of Mullah Omar’s inner circle. If we wanted to release detainees in exchange for Bergdahl, there were many others to choose from. Why these?

The rate of recidivism for GITMO released detainees has gone from 1 in 6 to 1 in 3 — and why would we think a one-year travel ban out of Qatar will be respected, or even make a difference with today’s modern communications technology? Even Obama has now stated they may just return to terrorist activity.

Obama’s breaking of the law in this case presents serious national security concerns — for all Americans. This is aiding and abetting the enemy, which goes along with the collusion of this administration with Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated organizations and supplying weapons and arms to Islamists.

Obama just released the leadership of a terrorist organization, and what did we get in return? A deserter, who by his own self-proclamation harbors anti-American sentiments — which it seems that Susan Rice, our esteemed National Security Advisor, didn’t even realize his heinous actions — or maybe as usual she just lied about it again. Bergdahl served the United States with honor and distinction? Let’s not send Susan Rice out ever again.

To hear Obama state that “no American should be left behind” — has he forgotten about Benghazi and Marine SGT Tahmooressi? How about leaving behind American veterans to die?

Ladies and gentlemen, I submit that Barack Hussein Obama’s unilateral negotiations with terrorists and the ensuing release of their key leadership without consult — mandated by law — with the U.S. Congress represents high crimes and misdemeanors, an impeachable offense.

So I call upon the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives; Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to draft articles of impeachment as no one is above the law in America. The failure to do so speaks volumes.

Re: Taliban Prisoner Swap Frees U.S. Soldier Held Nearly 5 Years

White House aides have accused members of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's unit of “swift-boating” the 28-year-old Idahoan for claiming that he deserted his post in Afghanistan nearly five years ago, MSNBC's Chuck Todd reported.

"I've had a few aides describe it to me as 'we didn't know that they were going to swift-boat Bergdahl,'" Todd said Wednesday.

The term "swift-boating" comes from 2004 when members of then-Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's Swift Boat unit came forward during the election to accuse him of misleading American voters about his service in Vietnam.

Members of the press and Democratic operatives claimed at the time that the effort to discredit Kerry’s military service was nothing more than a shadowy conspiracy and later dubbed the effort “swift-boating.”

“So there’s some fighting words there,” Todd said.

Todd later confirmed on Twitter that White House aides did indeed use the term “swift boat:"

National security adviser Susan Rice and other White House officials have praised Bergdahl's service since Saturday's announcement of his release from captivity, but the Army is investigating the circumstances and he may yet face charges stemming from his actions.

1) To what end would they be "Swift-Boating" Begdhal? He's not running for office or anything...

Re: Taliban Prisoner Swap Frees U.S. Soldier Held Nearly 5 Years

Oliver North: I Know A Ransom Of Five To Six Million Was Paid To Free Bergdahi

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Tuesday on NewsMax TV, former U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Oliver North said U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was not a prisoner of war because he was actually being held "hostage" by the Haqqanis, a terrorist group separate from the Taliban and associated heavily with al Qaeda.

North said he knew there was at least a $1 million dollar ransom being demanded for Bergdahl some time ago so he estimated the price paid to release the hostage must be close to $5-6 million now.

"Someone paid a ransom," North said. "Whether the Qataries paid it, or some big oil sheik, or somebody used our petrodollars, but there was a ransom paid in cash for each one of them, my guess somewhere in the round numbers of $5 or 6 million to get Bergdahl freed. I know that the offer that was on the table before was close to a million."

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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
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“You Americans are so gullible.
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Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, sits in a vehicle guarded by the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan. Bergdahl was freed by the Taliban on May 31, in exchange for five Afghan detainees held in the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Two American values, never leave a man behind and never negotiate with terrorists, collided in the Bergdahl calamity with each ethos running deep in the American conscience.
Voice Of Jihad Website via AP

The Obama administration only finalized the exchange of the last remaining U.S. prisoner of war in Afghanistan for five Taliban detainees at Guantanamo a day before the June 1 swap, a top Democratic lawmaker said Tuesday. He said American officials didn't learn the pickup location Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl until an hour ahead of time.
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Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2-ranked Democrat, presented the timeline as an explanation for why President Barack Obama didn't inform Congress 30 days before the deal. Republicans and some Democrats have sharply criticized the president for failing to notify them and claim he broke the law. Obama says he acted legally.
"They knew a day ahead of time the transfer was going to take place," Durbin told reporters in the Capitol, where military officials briefed the Senate Armed Services Committee behind closed doors. "They knew an hour ahead of time where it was going to take place."
RECOMMENDED: Quiz: How much do you know about terrorism?

His remarks came as a House panel overwhelmingly backed a measure barring U.S. funds for the transfer of detainees from the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, amid the congressional outcry over the swap.
On a bipartisan 33-13 vote, the Appropriations Committee added the provision to a $570 billion defense spending bill that blocks money if the administration fails to notify Congress within 30 days of a transfer from Guantanamo as required by law.
The administration exchanged Bergdahl, who had been held captive by the Taliban for five years, for five Taliban officials who had been at Guantanamo for more than a decade. The five were sent to Qatar where they are to remain for a year.
"The violation of trust between the department and Congress to use funds in violation of current law cannot be easily overlooked," Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., chairman of the defense subcommittee, said in a description of the amendment.
The measure also bars 85 percent of the money in the account for overseas conflicts until the defense secretary reassures Congress that no money will be spent to violate current law requiring congressional notification.
The measure captured the congressional anger among Republicans and many Democrats over Obama's failure to notify lawmakers in advance about the exchange. Particularly galling for lawmakers was one detail that emerged in the closed-door briefing Monday night with administration officials — 80-90 members of the government knew of the swap in advance but not a single member of Congress.
RECOMMENDED: Quiz: How much do you know about terrorism?

Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of the Appropriations panel, said the administration went ahead with no respect for the law and the Congress "and now sort of waving a thumb at us."
The full House is expected to debate the defense bill next week.

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Re: Taliban Prisoner Swap Frees U.S. Soldier Held Nearly 5 Years

As the Army continues to investigate whether Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is guilty of deserting his unit, this afternoon they said there is no reason to believe that Bergdahl engaged in any misconduct during his five years in captivity.

In fact, that's all that the Army said:

We have no reason to believe that he engaged in any misconduct."

Bergdahl electrified the national discourse last month after he was freed in a prisoner swap involving five members of the Taliban held at Guantanamo Bay. As charges against his character emerged, the narrative quickly shifted from Bergdahl as POW to Bergdahl as despicable deserter, unworthy bargaining chip, unwitting endangerer of America, and worse.

Here's what else we're learning about Bergdahl:

-- For now, he's on full Army pay, including $200,000 during his time in captivity, all of which he may ultimately have to return.

He is currently in an outpatient facility in Texas. The Army investigation is expected to conclude in mid-August. If charged with desertion, Bergdahl could face court-martial, prison, and even the death penalty.

So possibly training jihadis in tactics and vulnerabilities and, going on patrol with them armed with an AK is no big deal.

Doubting anything becomes of the desertion "investigation".

We can't have Dear Leader appearing in a negative light because of the swap.

Re: Taliban Prisoner Swap Frees U.S. Soldier Held Nearly 5 Years

hehehehe Most people have had their eyes and ears closed MMCO. No one is paying attention to this, unless they have a family member in the military or were military. Government officials? "Who's Bergdahl?"

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U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl, who was held captive by the Taliban for five years, appeared smiling alongside a commander from the militant Haqqani network in a photo posted on a Twitter account by a supporter of the Afghan Taliban.

On Friday, the Taliban confirmed the photo had been taken with them while Bergdahl was in captivity.

"You would have noticed in the photo with Badruddin Haqqani, Bergdahl is looking physically very weak as it was the beginning when he was kidnapped by our lions," said a Taliban commander, who asked not to be named.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the account that posted the photo was operated by a Taliban sympathizer who works in a university in Afghanistan.

"Its not our official Twitter but is operated by someone who seemed to be our supporter and sympathizer. We know he is teaching in a university in Afghanistan and is often using our photos on his Twitter," Mujahid said by telephone.

The account posted the photo late on Wednesday along with others of Bergdahl, as well as gruesome images of a decapitation. It said Bergdahl had been treated with kindness in captivity.

"Bowe #Bergdahl was really impressed when he saw the hospitality of #Taliban He first thought that he will be tortured But he was wrong," the Twitter post said. "He was not shackled in Chains neither was he Tortured, Rather He was Free."

Another photo of him with a Taliban commander showed him looking haggard and worried. The account also said Bergdahl had attempted to escape when the Taliban took him to a market but had been recaptured.

Bergdahl was captured on June 30, 2009, in unclear circumstances. He was released on May 31 in a prisoner swap that freed five Taliban leaders held at Guantanamo prison in Cuba.

He has not spoken to the media since his release and the Twitter account's description of his time in captivity and the circumstances of the photographs could not be confirmed.

The Twitter account identified the man in the first photo with Bergdahl as Badruddin Haqqani, head of operations and financial chief for the Haqqani network. The group is blamed for some of the deadliest and most spectacular attacks on NATO and Afghan troops in Afghanistan.

The picture with Haqqani is tagged with the words "Jundul Haqqani", or Haqqani group.

Bergdahl's release sparked an initial wave of euphoria in the United States that quickly became overwhelmed by a bitter political debate over whether he had abandoned his post and whether the prisoner swap should have gone ahead.

Some of his former colleagues have called for him to be court-martialed for allegedly deserting his post.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the army was investigating the circumstances of Bergdahl's disappearance. He was the only U.S. soldier to be captured and held hostage during the war in Afghanistan.

Bergdahl was initially flown to a U.S. hospital in Germany. He arrived back on U.S. soil last month and has been housed at a military hospital in San Antonio, Texas, to help him readjust.

The hospital, formally known as the San Antonio Military Medical Center, has teams of specialists and has been helping returning prisoners of war for decades.

Re: Taliban Prisoner Swap Frees U.S. Soldier Held Nearly 5 Years

The Army completed its investigation last week into Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's disappearance from a base in Afghanistan five years ago, but the Pentagon said Tuesday that it doesn't know when the report will be released.

'The investigating officer has done his work, but now that work is moving through the Army system, and at each stop ... there will ... be questions, requirements for clarification,' Army Colonel Steve Warren told reporters.

'So it's working its way through the system as would any other investigation.'

The results of the Army's probe into whether Bergdahl deserted his post will most certainly be withheld from the public until after November's elections, if it discloses its findings at all.

The Pentagon's announcement has Republicans and former platoon mates of Bergdahl's wondering what's taking so long, as the facts of the case appear fairly cut and dried on the surface.

According to soldiers who served with Bergdahl, the 28-year-old willingly abandoned his base several days before he was kidnapped by the Taliban and taken hostage in June of 2009.

For nearly five years he was held captive by the terrorist organization until President Barack Obama and the Pentagon negotiated his release last May.

Acting on his own authority, Obama traded five Taliban commanders who were being held in detention at Guantanamo Bay for the release of Bergdahl, who is now living and working at a base in San Antonio, Texas.

Bergdahl has not spoken out publicly since his return to the U.S. and has reportedly refused to meet with his family in person.

In June the Army announced that Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, a veteran of two tours in Afghanistan, would lead it's official review of Bergdahl's conduct. The two-star general, who also serves as the deputy commanding general of 1st Corps at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington state, interviewed Bergdahl in August.

If cleared of wrong doing, Sgt. Bergdahl stands to receive $200,000 in back pay and $150,000 compensation for his troubles.

The Army said on Friday that it had received Dahl's report and its 'reviewing it,' but it has no timeline for the completion of its audit.

'As we stressed at on the onset, this will be a lengthy process conducted in accordance with applicable laws, regulation and policy,' Army officials said in a statement.

'We recognize the importance of the media and the public understanding of our investigative process, and look forward to future discussions on this issue.

The statement went on to say that 'the Army's priority is ensuring that our process is thorough, factually accurate, impartial, and legally correct.'

'Consequently, at this time, it would be inappropriate to speculate on the potential results or the amount of time the review process will take to complete.'

Reuters says that Colonel Warren, the Pentagon's spokesperson, denied on Tuesday that the military was postponing the release of the report until after Election Day in order to give the president and his his political party cover from the potentially damning details of the probe.

But members of Bergdahl's unit say they don't understand why the Army's assessment is taking so long.

Bergdahl's former platoon leader, Sgt. Evan Buetow, has said on numerous occasions that after Bergdahl, then a private in the army, went missing, soldiers in his unit learned from locals they were observing over the radio that an American was wandering around town, looking for someone who spoke English so that he could communicate with the Taliban.

'We've come out when he first got released, and we explained exactly what happened. He deserted his post, all on his own, and we're now still sitting here waiting for answers,' Buetow told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday evening.

Buetow said he was interviewed Gen. Dahl and had a 'lengthy' conversation with him about the details of Bergdahl's disappearance, including the chatter the platoon heard over the radio.

'I have a list of the people that the general spoke to during this investigation,' Buetow told Hannity. 'It's everyone from the platoon, and I know exactly what they said.

'There's no way that they can conclude this investigation without the truth.'

The truth, Buetow said, is that Bergdahl deserted.

'There's not one person [from his platoon] who disagrees,' Buetow said.

Another former platoon mate of Bergdahl's, Sgt. Jordan Vaughn, said Wednesday on Fox and Friends that he's also suspicious of delay, given that the military had 'five years to investigate this, talk to everyone who was there, who was involved, talk to the family, check the emails, look at the facts.'

'The only thing that was missing here, the only piece, is Bergdahl himself talking to him,' he said.

Vaughn suggested that part of the problem is that Dahl is not qualified to conduct the probe.

'I really want to see the line of questioning presented by Major General Dahl given that he is not an army investigator,' Vaughn said.

He later referred to Dahl as a 'general that has no experience' leading 'a line of questioning in a criminal investigation.'

'What are Gen. Dahl's credentials?' he asked.

Vaughn said if the Army doesn't release its finished review to the public, he and other members of Bergdahl's platoon would 'look into filing a Freedom of Information Act' to obtain the report.

Fox's Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was filling in this morning for regular Fox and Friends host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, commented that it seemed 'very politically expedient' that the Army is delaying the release of its report until after the election.

On Tuesday night, Hannity noted that 'the Army says politics has nothing to do with' the protracted wait.

'I'm not sold,' he said.

Army Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters, a frequent Fox guest, told Hannity later in the show that he, too, believes the Obama administration may have asked the Army to sit on the verdict of its investigation until after Nov. 4.

'When it comes to why it's being withheld, it's obvious. It's gotta be withheld until after the election because no matter which way the report goes, Obama loses,' he said.

'If the White House was able to exert sufficient pressure on the chain of command in the Pentagon to whitewash Bergdahl's actions, then there's gonna be this huge outcry from those serving in uniform, from veterans from conservatives,' he noted.

On the other hand, he said, 'if it turns out that the Army got some backbone and really looked at what Bergdahl did, listened to people like Sgt. Buetow and his platoon mates, and finds that, yes, he should be charged with desertion, well then the Rose Garden ceremony looks like an even greater debacle.'

'So Obama has dug himself into a very deep hole, and he can't stop digging,' he said, referring to a news conference the president held at the White House on the day of Bergdahl's release with the sergeant's parents.

Peters claimed that he has 'nothing personal' against Sgt. Bergdahl and that he's never met him.

'This is about a much greater issue than one individual who appears to have deserted from his post and left his comrades behind in war time,' he explained.

'The principle is this: the Obama administration really despises our military, in my view. And they understand why Bergdahl would desert, they just don't understand why anybody would join the military.

Returning back to the topic at hand, Peters said that 'if there's a whitewash, and Bergdahl walks with all his back pay and stuff, the travesty, the precedent it sets for all future wars is that, "Hey dude, it's OK, man. You don't like what's going on, walk away, we'll cover for you."

Re: Taliban Prisoner Swap Frees U.S. Soldier Held Nearly 5 Years

Hmm, I can't imagine which direction this one would go that democrats are going out of their way to delay a decision? Exonerate and the veteran base is enraged so delay the decision?

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."
-- Theodore Roosevelt

Re: Taliban Prisoner Swap Frees U.S. Soldier Held Nearly 5 Years

Lt. Colonel Tony Shaffer, author of The Last Line, and Ret. Col. David Hunt joined Bill O’Reilly to give an update on the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner swap. Lt. Colonel Shaffer told Bill the Obama administration paid $5 billion and released five top Taliban Gitmo detainees in exchange for deserter Bowe Bergdahl.

Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, who was part of the negotiations, told Bill O’Reilly the US paid out $5 billion and traded five top Taliban detainees for Bergdahl.

Bill O’Reilly: Let me just stop you. There were three trade scenarios, there were three things they could have done. You were involved to try to work that out to some extent?

Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer: Not all of them involved trade. One of them essentially was a direct action. One of them involved my aspect, which was not again a trade. It was something working the issue. And, obviously the one the president went with was the $5 billion to Qatar and the trade of the five Taliban.

O’Reilly: Are you surprised this report… Why hasn’t been released? The Pentagon, they’re not supposed to be political.

Lt. Col. Shaffer: Bill, I understand General Dahl, the investigating officer did an incredible job… I understand he confirmed what was in previous report… Effectively, he deserted.